1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a combination washing machine and dryer, and in particular relates to a combination washing machine and dryer having a trap door interposed between a washing machine and a fabric dryer, wherein after the washing machine has finished washing the clothes contained therein, the trap door opens to allow the wet clothing to fall into the fabric dryer for subsequent drying.
2. Description of the Related Art
Washing machines are used by scores of millions of housewives and stay-at-home husbands for automatically washing clothes. After washing clothes within a washing machine, a user must remove the wet clothes therefrom, and either hang the clothes upon a clothesline to dry or place the clothes within an electric dryer which automatically warms and dries the clothes. Consequently, “doing laundry” is a two-step process that requires the user to interrupt whatever he/she is doing in order to remove wet clothing from a washing machine and transfer the clothing to a clothesline or a fabric dryer for subsequent drying. Accordingly, there is a need for a combination washing machine and dryer having a trap door interposed between a washing machine and a fabric dryer, wherein after the washing machine has finished washing the clothes contained therein, the trap door opens to allow the wet clothing to fall into the fabric dryer, thereby obviating the need for the user to interrupt whatever he/she is doing in order to remove wet clothing from the washing machine and transfer the clothing to the fabric dryer for subsequent drying.
A variety of combination washing machine and dryers have been devised. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,387 to Cotton appears to show a combination washing machine and dryer comprising a fabric dryer mounted on an appliance support stand above an automatic washing machine. Additionally, U.S Pat. No. D172,386 to Geldhof and U.S. Pat. No. D367,135 to Jackovin each appear to show an ornamental design for a combination washing machine and dryer.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.